Wichita Survives Late Inning Naturals Rally

SPRINGDALE, Ark.—The Wichita Wind Surge staved off a seven-run comeback to win 8-7 against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. Both teams scored all of their runs in unanswered stretches throughout the night.

The Wind Surge put up runs in each of the first three innings. Kala’i Rosario started the scoring with an RBI double to left field to score Emmanuel Rodriguez from third in the top of the first.

Jeferson Morales stepped to the plate with the bases loaded an inning later. The catcher cleared the bases by lacing a double to the wall in right field. Kyler Fedko, Jorel Ortega, and Alerick Soularie came across with a 4-0 Wind Surge advantage.

Carson McCusker scurried home on a wild pitch in the top of the third. Ortega notched another tally on a sacrifice fly to center to give Jake Rucker enough time to tag up. Ortega and McCusker would later work RBI hits in the fifth and eighth innings to propel Wichita to an 8-0 lead.

Northwest Arkansas scored all seven runs in the bottom of the eighth and ninth when down to their final outs. The Naturals had a trio of run-scoring hits and a groundout to plate six in the former frame. After scoring one more on a Cayden Wallace single and bringing the tying run to the plate, Jared Solomon struck out the side to secure the Wind Surge victory.

Aaron Rozek moved to 1-1 after earning his first win of the season on five innings of one-hit ball out of the bullpen with two walks and four strikeouts. Solomon’s gutsy performance in the ninth gave him his second save to become the team leader in the category.

Wichita wraps up its series with Northwest Arkansas tomorrow, Sunday, May 5, with the first pitch at 2:05 PM. You can listen to Wind Surge games on ESPN Wichita 92.3 and windsurge.com or watch online at MiLB.TV and Bally Live. For ticket information, please visit windsurge.com.